In the Meantime: UP!

“It’s fairly simple.”
That’s when you know you are in for it.
“Not much to it.” He said to me as Ben handed me a caulk gun from the supply trailer.

Four years ago, our church sent a volunteers-in-mission team to Crisfield, Maryland, on the Eastern shore to provide still needed recovery help after Hurricane Sandy. We arrived four years after the storm herself had blown across low lying shorelands and much of the East Coast. And our help was still needed to bring restoration and hope where both had almost passed by. Hundreds of teams preceded us with hands-on work and love for Jesus. We saw their names drawn on with a sharpie marker on the plywood bunks where we slept. Our team came near the end of the time as Volunteers in Mission had in Crisfield. The field office was officially preparing just weeks after our weekend of work to turn their attention to the disaster recovery efforts in West Virginia. Our youth would follow there in West Virginia later that summer.

But for now, our group of eight from West Grove UMC was focused on putting our hands to work. Back at the supply trailer, Ben patiently and efficiently offered crash courses in equipment and repair scattered among our team to prepare us for our projects. Follow-ups would be available as needed. Hands-on building ramps, repairs stairs, putting in windows, and caulking was the docket for the weekend. My lesson in caulking rivaled the length of a television commercial. I was sure that my trainer did not give me enough information at first, and I stood gawking at the gun, hesitant to put my newly acquired knowledge into practice.

If only he would have stayed longer and told me more.
If only I could practice on a surface that would not have such high-stake consequences as a window.
If only someone with more experience was installing the caulk.

It was easy to come up with a list of “if only”s of as I stood there staring at the caulking gun, wishing that it was a different set of circumstances. I am confident that Miss Eula, whose home we were working on, had hoped that Hurricane Sandy, who ripped off her ramp and rattled her windows, had been a different set of circumstances. Miss Eula had lived with her home in shambles, parts of the window framing on the lawn for years. Today began the chance she waited patiently for her turn on the list.

Ultimately, it was on the strength of having decorated cakes; I embrace the challenge. Alongside my teammates who hung the window and steadied the spaces, we worked together. Placing the gun aside from the sill evenly and calmly, I filled the open spots insulating each window. We put in four new windows, and I caulked each one. I got better each time, as did our window hangers.
Perhaps, this is what it was like with Jesus. Teaching and preparation, and then being sent out on your own. For three years, Jesus taught and healed, traveled, and preached, baptized, and proclaimed. The disciples traveled with him, and others followed. Some supported Jesus fiscally, and others kept him fed. They hung on his every word. They listened for his parables of lost coins, sheep, and sons; his feedings of thousands; his stories of who God is and how he would fulfill his mission here on earth.

When he died as he said he would, they felt confused, puzzled, betrayed, alone, unsure, hesitant, and hopeless. But all was not lost as they supposed. Jesus’ death was matched by resurrection three days later. As he promised, Jesus’ resurrection fulfilled the promises he spoke and the promise of scripture. He crisscrossed the area with appearances to disciples confirming their suspicions that they were not alone. Jesus was alive. He was resurrected from the grave. He conquered death and sin. In those forty glorious days between the Easter day, when the shock of the risen Christ was palpable, and the day Jesus ascended into heaven, Jesus taught them again what they would need to know. Like a final lecture, Jesus replayed the greatest hits and fielded questions.

And then, just as Moses blesses people before his death in Deuteronomy 33, Jesus blesses the people before his Ascension. At the edge of the town of Bethany, Jesus stood at the highest point and rose into the clouds. One of the memes circling the web right now is Ascension is when Jesus started working from home. Good luck from all of us who have been working for home for ten weeks currently. Watch out for the snacks and traffic in the hallways.

Prayers for all of you continuing to work from home, school children (we are in the home stretch!), and those who without employment at this time. There is a profound comfort in knowing God can relate to us, and we can relate to God.
So, we have good news, and we have bad news on this Ascension Day drama. The bad news is that Jesus is no longer among us bodily here on earth. As the Apostles creed has taught us to say, Jesus ascends to the right hand of the Father, Almighty, where he comes to judge the living and the dead.

The good news is that God is with us in Spirit and in truth. Jesus is now the head over everything. Next week, we will celebrate Pentecost, the gift of the Holy Spirit to the early church and to us today, the continuation of God’s presence, comfort, encouragement, conviction, and power among us. Jesus sits at the place of honor next to God because Jesus has accomplished all that has been given to him to do. The ministry of the church is an extension of what Jesus began to do and teach. The conclusion of Jesus’ earthly ministry is the launch of the church.

Ascension Day is a festival. An occasion for a raucous celebration. A solemn hymn is not enough to indicate the joy of the day. Jesus, who once dead, rose from the dead and now ascended into heaven. All is well. The powers of death and destruction, darkness, and suffering are under his feet, and God’s way will triumph wholly and ultimately. The Lord, our God, is an Awesome God! When we say Jesus is head over all, we confirm our belief that God is yet is control; Jesus is redeeming the world and the Holy Spirit’s creativity reigns. God has accomplished all things through Jesus the Christ.

Ascension Day is a celebration and call to action: Now it’s your turn, church! Ascension Day is actually a soft open for the church. The launch party will be on Pentecost, but as disciples and followers, we know it’s ours to fulfill. There is a solid foundation in Jesus Christ upon which to grow and thrive as the church.

“Why do you stand to look toward heaven?” The men asked the disciples, “Jesus will come in the same way you saw him go.” As disciples, we can not just keep looking to heaven for Jesus to return; we must get about the work of the missional body of the church. The body of Christ, reaching out into the world, in Christ’s name. The deployed body of Christ, who have been taught, blessed and sent. The church was never about being the building; Jesus-followers are always being sent on a mission.

I can recall as a student the day that I learned the graduation had commencement exercises. It was the spring of 1999, and I was preparing for my high school graduation. I was puzzled. Why, when I had clearly completed high school, achieved stellar heights as a scholar, performer, community service advocate, and athlete was what I saw as the conclusion of my achievement seen as an exercise in the beginning? I have since graduated from two additional institutions higher education, and I have begun to glimpse the wisdom. Like Ascension, graduation notes a shift from the reception of knowledge and guided practice to a freefall launch of commencement of usage and application.

Now it’s our turn. Jesus blesses us with the power to receive the repentance of others and offer forgiveness of sins. Then zeroes in on our task, YOU are my Witnesses to Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth. You are witnesses of these things. Like when the caulk gun was placed in my hands, you may be filled with hesitations and concerns. Lean not on your own understanding. You have been taught, and the ascended Lord Jesus, who has all things under his feet, is with you. Be the church in the world!
This is the good news of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, thanks be to God, Amen.

New Testament Lesson: Acts 1:1-11
In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Gospel Lesson: Luke 24:50-53
Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

Meditations For Your Week
Sunday, May 24 ~ Saturday, May 31, 2020

Sunday: “In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.” Acts 1:1-2. The book of Acts continues from the book of Luke and tells incredible stories of the miracles of God. Pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit in your life.

Monday: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8. You are a witness of God. When you share the love of God, the power and hope of Jesus shines through you. Your life is a witness. Live like others are watching. They are.

Tuesday: “When he had said this, as they were watching, Jesus was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” Acts 1:9. Consider that Jesus ascended and fulfilled the commitment that Jesus is the head of all things. You need not fear. All of that which you fear, Jesus is already there.

Wednesday: “They said, “[People] of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11. Pray for the time in which you will know Jesus most fully. May it be on earth as it is in heaven.

Thursday: “Then Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them.” Luke 24: 50. Jesus always blessed people – those who were ill and those who were growing in discipleship. Where have you seen Jesus blessing you?

Friday: “While he was blessing them, Jesu withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.” Luke 24: 51. Pray for those who feel alone in their home during this time of shelter at home. May they be strengthened by power of God’s presence and connection with community through technologies of phone, letters, and computers.

Saturday: “And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.” Luke 24: 52- 53. The unity of the church is in praising God. Kindle in our hearts a love for one another and commitment to blessing one God of us all!